Lunch, a review site that made its debut earlier this year, is launching a new feature it calls micro reviews — highly condensed reviews on just about anything, with a maximum length of 140 characters. You’ll be able to see a stream of incoming reviews on the site’s homepage, and you can also syndicate the microreviews you write to Twitter and Facebook.
Of course, review sites aren’t anything new. Neither are so-called ‘micro reviews’ — we’ve seen a number of sites that invite users to submit condensed reviews rather than the lengthier entries you’ll find on sites like Yelp. But there are a few things that make Lunch a little bit different, not the least of which is CEO J.R. Johnson’s ultimate goal with the site: to make the world a better place by changing the way people think about each other.
A lofty goal to be sure, and one that’s going to be extremely difficult. So how does Lunch plan to do it?
Johnson explains that review sites in general tend to change the way people think about what they’re doing — a phenomenon he watched unfold in the travel industry (he founded VirtualTourist in 1999, which sold to Expedia last year). Johnson says that during his time at VirtualTourist, he observed that people who consumed content on the site tended to be more analytical during their own travels, because they had the intent of sharing their thoughts with other members of the site once they got back home. He hopes that Lunch’s new microreviews will have the same effect, encouraging people to more analytically observe the world around them as they look for things to relay back to their peers on Lunch.
He says this effect could also be magnified because of the way Lunch’s recommendation engine (called a “Similarity Network”) works. Based on reviews you’ve submitted and other actions on the site, Lunch tries to pair you up with other members that it thinks are most similar to you — the idea being you’d rather read a review from one or two very similar people than dozens of reviews from users you know nothing about. Johnson’s theory is that if you’re going to be sharing your reviews with a highly relevant audience, you’re going to be even more analytical in your daily life.
Johnson says that the big picture here is to help people understand eachother better, allowing them to use the Similarity Network to find some common ground where they wouldn’t otherwise and encouraging people to approach life with a more critical perspective. And because the site deals with pretty much any topic, running the gamut from ice cream reviews to politics, there’s a lot of things for people to potentially connect on. Micro reviews are a start — a “critical thinking onramp” — and more robust features in the future will continue the trend.
This all sounds nice in theory, but Johnson’s goals are going to be really hard to see through. For one, the site is still quite small, and there are countless other review sites out there, including both generalized sites like Lunch and niche sites. Making the world a better place is a great long-term goal, but in the short term, Lunch is going to need to find a way to drive people to use the site by offering something its competitors don’t. And even if Lunch had an exceptionally large userbase, I have a hard time believing the service would be able to put much of a dent in the prejudices that run throughout the world.
first!
In Philly, a hot new iPhone app called Shopiks (www.shopiks.com) lets people write and share micro reviews on local stores and deals. You can already see a lot of stores here with a Shopiks sticker so I guess they are doing well.
If you’re not part of the underground Techcrunch incubator fraternity system, you won’t get your app reviewed, even if it’s much better than this one.
Oh, I’m dying to see what people say on the Universal Health Care micro-reviews, but I don’t want to have to sign in to read them.
http://buyersvote.com
No signin required to view or even to create a new category of reviews (to vote though you can login with your gmail, yahoo, twitter, etc)
You don’t need to be logged in to read micro reviews. Here are the ones on Universal Health Care:
http://www.lunc...eviews-1-1.html
I actually think this sounds pretty sweet. I haven’t even heard of or tried any of the other so-called “micro-review” sites Kincaid was talking about, I wish he would have mentioned a few of them.
I will certainly be trying Lunch out though.
I am LOVING this way of internet communication! I also want to change the world by using positive and thoughtful ways to express the truth…
♥
Not impressed.
A stupid idea for a generic review site, but hey, they got press out of TC. I doubt that free vacation, ahem, “think tank” Carr attended has anything to do with their access to TC. Even if you slant toward the neutral/negative, you should still disclose the fact that this press is pay for play. You may be able to fool the trolls, but not anon. He is smarter than you.
Forgot, Lacy attended it also. Convenient, no?
Dead pool
Throw this into the pool, the dead-pool. I give this startup 6 months before it becomes a spam pit.
I have some faith in the “similarity network” – it’s a high potential way of building community if the algorithm is done right.
I love their idea, it’s great to shorten long reviews and get really straight to the point. I just dont agree on the connecting similarity network part, because what you’d probably want is to see views of different types of people to get a more balanced perspective (anyways that could be just me).
I wouldn’t put them exactly in the deadpool. End of the day, it’s all about monetization.
Oh Please! so much air. Yes our goal at http://www.binfire.com is also to end the world hunger. Although we are in in online storage and collaboration business……. This article sounds like an ad for lunch.com!
JR has had some success but this one seems like a very small one if it does succeed.
Dead pool this shit
whats wrong with the edit profile page
took me 15 mins to complete and still it doesn’t show a damn thing in my profile..
waste of time.
This is why I used to always read TechCrunch. In the past they have introduced me to some of favourite sites that I would have never found without them. Sites that were attempting to create new innovation and that is what it appears Lunch is. But lately TechCrunch felt the same as it was. I am looking forward to trying this site and I hope it can live up to what it promises.
I’m working on a office suite that consists of spreadsheet, word processor, and presentation applications…all limited to 140 character documents! Great for a 140 character sales pitch.
Are ADD, ADHD, and aspies pushing this trend or something?
Harry “this Lunch is as stupid as my idea above” Wang
Oh, also working on a Wikipedia competitor where all the subject write-ups are limited to 140 characters.
Harry “great for Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire players and fifth graders who need to summarize things” Wang
Looks like their micro-reviews are only a feature. There’s also longer form reviews. I spent a couple hours this morning reading some really in-depth, high quality reviews on movies and books. It was very enjoyable. Whether these guys can make it or not, remains to be seen, but I enjoyed browsing the site with my coffee this morning.
Micro reviews hold a micro interest with me. I like longer reviews when I’m looking for a restaurant. That and I want to know the reviewers in my area so I am comfortable with them enough to trust them.
Longer reviews are better. Really helps in the decision process when going out to eat.